ROBOT Theme Restaurant Chennai - a review


Planning to dine at ROBOT restaurant in Chennai? Read the first-hand review of the ROBOT Restaurant in Chennai, India's first robot theme restaurant, based on a personal experience. It offers a unique dining experience, with robot waitresses at your service. The ambience, service and food are exceptional. My family and I had a wonderful experience. Read on to learn more about the restaurant and why I recommend it.

Sometime in mid-December of last year, we dined at ROBOT, the most happening and talked about dining place in Chennai. It was a celebratory lunch for my husband's birthday. I am glad we chose this venue over all the other restaurants that we had shortlisted. It turned out to be one of the most memorable lunches we have ever had. And I have more reasons than one to say so.

I called the restaurant, a week in advance, to make the reservations, but was told that they were booked for the entire week. So, my daughter and I cooked hubby dear a special meal on his birthday and postponed lunch at ROBOT, to the following week.

The ROBOT is a concept restaurant, the first (and the only) of its kind, in India and it offers a one-off dining experience – a true placer gastronómico. The restaurant has a robot-theme, with actual robots delivering food to the tables. Not just is the concept unique, the food on offer, the ambience and the entire experience is worthy of praise. If you are looking for a novel and exhilarating dining experience in Chennai, then ROBOT is the place to head to. A word of advice though, call ahead and book a table.



A little bit of history


The ROBOT restaurant in Chennai is located in a standalone, quite a nondescript building, on OMR, abutting the main gate of St. Joseph's College of Engineering, Semmenchari. The place formerly went by the name MOMO and was recently re-launched, with a new name and theme, though the cuisine served remains the same, quintessential Thai and Chinese.

The Robot Theme Restaurant, Chennai

The Indo-Thai and Indo-Chinese cuisine served at the restaurant were cooked to perfection, with the right flavours, textures and consistencies to tickle the typical Indian's taste buds. The exclusive restaurant is the baby of Venkatesh Rajendran and his buddy Karthik Kannan. The robots, we were told, were imported from China.

The experience


Well, we started off on the wrong foot. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were shocked to find my name missing from their reservation register. The person I had spoken to, over the phone, while booking the table, had taken down my details (repeated them to me, when prompted to) but had missed entering them in the register. I always take the name of the person at the other end of the phone, just so I have a reference, when I call the next time. So, when I mentioned this individual's name to the lady at the reception, I was asked to wait. Soon enough a gentleman approached us and explained that there had been an error at their end and that they would accommodate us, within half an hour, as soon as a table fell vacant. He was extremely humble and apologetic about the fiasco. During our conversation, we learned that he was Venkat, the owner of the place. This enterprising and dynamic young man is going to go places – he had no airs about him, was ever so polite and courteous. A quality, I truly appreciate.

He took a personal interest in ensuring that we were made comfortable. We were given a bottle of mineral water and served lip-smacking Oreo Milkshake, on-the-house, while we waited. The shake was delicious – thick, creamy and chocolaty. And I highly recommend it.

Oreo Milkshake at Robot, Chennai

The Reception Area


The reception on the ground floor of the premises is a smallish space, with comfortable seating and good air conditioning. The walls and the floor are painted black. It is still being done up, as was obvious with the hint of paint smell that lingered in the air. Once completed the interiors of the reception will be in sync with the neon coloured design in the restaurant.

The reception witnessed a never-ending surge of people. Eager faces kept treading in, without having booked a table, hoping to be accommodated. I watched people pleading their case, making statements that they had come from very far or that they were in Chennai for only a day. Some said that they did not mind waiting. Others walked away disappointed. One lady lost her cool, accusing the staff of breaking some unwritten rule of the hospitality industry, of not keeping a few tables, for guests who walk in, without reservation. "How you could book an entire section for a birthday party", she barked, at the receptionist. Thankfully, she wasn't referring to us. We were just three – there were two birthday bashes happening upstairs. The owner and the young receptionist kept their cool through all this.

Soon enough, the owner ushered us into the restaurant upstairs.

The Ambience


The flight of stairs leading to the restaurant is coloured black as well, with neon robotic figures painted on the walls. The theme is prominent in the restaurant too and imparts a distinctive and invigorating touch to the place.

Stairway leading to the Robot restaurant, Chennai

The ROBOT Restaurant


On a nook, on the landing, is a model of a robot, and it makes an ideal spot for a selfie.

Selfie point at Robot restaurant

The restaurant was dimly lit, with small lamps placed at every table. They changed colour at the click of a switch and kept us engaged for a while, as we waited for the food to be served. Anyway, our eyes soon adjusted to the dim lit environment.

Despite the dark walls and the dim lights, the atmosphere at the ROBOT was lively and electrifying. High up on the dark walls were luminously painted robot figures that brightened the interiors and added an energetic spark.



Loud, enthusiastic voices of children and adults greeted us – the excitement was palpable. And as we were being led to our table, the noise level rose and through bobbing heads of the other diners, we got a glimpse of the robot waitresses.

The Robot waitresses at the ROBOT Restaurant


With scarves stylishly wrapped around their necks, the robot waitresses reminded me of flight stewardesses, elegant and poised. They moved along a predetermined path, carrying food bowls to the tables.



They knew where to stop and when to stop. They'd stop right at your table and turn 90° left or right, depending on the table they were serving. The human waiters would then place the dishes on the table.

The robots stopped when their path was obstructed, but they didn't like that, as was obvious from the expression they wore. We were amused at the irritation that could be seen in their eyes when they were unnecessarily halted. They looked cross. Their eyes formed into angry slits, as can be seen in the image below.



Sensors fitted on the robots alerts them of obstructions.

Novel way of ordering the food


Each table had a tablet where the menu could be viewed and the order placed. There were quite a number of staff around, but their job was confined to serving the food and clearing the tables. The order went directly to the kitchen where it was prepared and brought to the table by the robots.



The food at the ROBOT


Venkat recommended a few dishes and we went with his recommendation of starters, Thai Green Chilli Fish and Wow Chicken. Both were appetising, cooked to perfection and the servings were generous. The rest of the food we ordered was really delicious. We also ordered a non-veg Thai green curry, we ordered, was served along with white rice. We weren't aware of that. Since the helpings were large and there was that extra bowl of rice, we couldn't finish all that we had ordered and had to ask for it to be packed.



The gravies were rich and creamy, the meat tender and succulent and the flavours just perfect.
The dessert needs a special mention. Venkat suggested the Red Velvet Brownie and it was one of the best I have had. It was warm, moist and deliciously tasty. I would have ordered another, had I not been bursting with food.
A robot brought the birthday cake to the table and it carried a portable music player that belted the happy birthday song.



Will I go there again?


Yes, most definitely. In fact, we have plans to take a friend to the restaurant – just looking for an opportune time.



The duo has another restaurant on OMR, called '747 – Flight Themed Restaurant'. They have plans to expand their venture and will soon be opening another Robot themed restaurant, in Anna Nagar, with a lot more on offer, such as the face recognition feature, wherein the robots will recognise guests who have visited once.



ROBOT Restaurant details


The restaurant serves lunch and dinner between 12:00 & 15:00 hours and 19:00 & 23:00 hours, respectively. You can call #9842-883223 for reservations. Do drop in, at least once, for the experience.

Address:
ROBOT
Kamaraj Nagar,
Semmancheri,
Chennai,
Tamil Nadu 600119

(Landmark - Adjacent to Sathyabama University & St. Joseph's College of Engineering on OMR).

Do you have anything to say about the restaurant? Leave your feedback in the comments section.


Comments

Author: K Mohan29 Sep 2018 Member Level: Platinum   Points : 1

First of all a big applause to the owner of the Robot Theme Restaurant at Chennai for thinking differently and thus hitting instant fame as the mention of the hotel is in the social, print and electronic media. As the people throng the hotel for their new serving experience, for the children it is a place to visit often.

Author: Juana02 Oct 2018 Member Level: Diamond   Points : 1

It is not just the children, the Robot-themed restaurant is designed to enthral adults as well. In fact, the footfall the restaurant receives is mostly that of adults.

The restaurant has become one of my favourite places to entertain outstation guests. The unique concept is appreciated by one and all. And it's not just about the robots - the food is delicious, the portions large and the pricing competitive. The service is great too. I highly recommend The ROBOT to anyone who hasn't tried it yet.

Author: Sheo Shankar Jha02 Oct 2018 Member Level: Diamond   Points : 3

The author has revealed an exciting experience with the trip of ROBOT located at Kamaraj Nagar - Chennai. The entire description while staying in the hotel was interesting and such information could better offer an insight to the interested customers.
The atmosphere while enjoying dining, the ways how the female robots displayed their performance and their anger mood in case of their obstructions in serving the food to their allocated tables has made this ROBOT hotel an exciting place.
The unfortunate part is that such arrangement with the provision of ROBOT is still to come up in different parts of the major cities of India entertaining the customers in the ROBOTIC culture. One remarkable point to be kept up in mind is the alacrity of the mind of the modern managers to attract the customers with their deep sense of involvement so that they would drop in the next convenient timings.
A well-written article giving a descriptive narration of their entertainment with the provision of ROBOT mechanism.

Author: Juana14 Jan 2019 Member Level: Diamond   Points : 4

Sheo Shankar,

On the onset, I'd like to correct you, The ROBOT is not a hotel, it is a restaurant. It just serves food.

Indeed, it is a novel concept, and the owners have spread their wings, with a similar concept restaurant in Coimbatore. Diners can call 8939666864, to book a table at The ROBOT, Coimbatore branch and experience the innovative dining culture. The restaurant is open between 12:00- 15:00 hours for lunch and between 19:00-23:00 hours for dinner.

The founders of the restaurant are also open to franchisees, so anyone interested in being a part of this concept can get in touch with them, through the link, available on their website.



  • Do not include your name, "with regards" etc in the comment. Write detailed comment, relevant to the topic.
  • No HTML formatting and links to other web sites are allowed.
  • This is a strictly moderated site. Absolutely no spam allowed.
  • Name:
    Email: